The present invention relates to bicycles and, more specifically, to a bottom bracket bearing axle mounting arrangement for bicycle, which eliminates clearance of teeth, keeping the bottom bracket bearing axle stably supported in place.
A regular bicycle comprises a bottom bracket bearing axle mounted in a bottom bracket to hold two crank and pedal assemblies for pedaling. FIG. 1 shows a bottom bracket bearing axle mounting arrangement according to the prior art. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a bottom bracket bearing axle 92 is inserted through a bottom bracket 91, two ball races 93 are mounted on the bottom bracket bearing axle 92 inside the bottom bracket 91, two sets of steel balls 94 are respectively supported on the ball races 93 around the periphery of the bottom bracket bearing axle 92, two threaded stop members 95 respectively sleeved onto the bottom bracket bearing axle 92 and threaded into a respective inner thread at each of two opposite ends of the bottom bracket 91 to hold the two sets of steel balls 94 on the ball races 93 around the bottom bracket bearing axle 92, and two locating rings 96 respectively fastened to the threaded stop members 95 outside the bottom bracket 91. After installation, the two distal ends 922 of the bottom bracket bearing axle 92 are disposed outside the bottom bracket 91 for the mounting of the respective crank and pedal assemblies. This design of bottom bracket bearing axle mounting arrangement is still not satisfactory in function. Because there is a clearance of teeth between the outer thread of each threaded stop member and the respective inner thread of the bottom bracket, the steel balls are not stably supported on the respective ball races, and the bottom bracket bearing axle may vibrate when pedaling the pedals of the crank and pedal assemblies.
The present invention has been accomplished to provide a bottom bracket bearing axle mounting arrangement, which eliminates the aforesaid problem. According to the present invention, the stop members holding the respective sets of steel balls on the respective ball races are hollow, conical, externally threaded, split stop members. Because the stop members each have splits, the cross section of each stop member where the respective splits passed is radially compressible. Therefore, the stop members can be fastened to the respective inner threads of the bottom bracket tightly to hold the respective sets of steel balls on the respective ball races stably, and no clearance of teeth is left between the outer thread of each stop member and the corresponding inner thread of the bottom bracket after installation of the stop members in the bottom bracket.